Rodman Neeper Funeral Home

A business which began serving Delaware and the surrounding community since 1906, George Rodman announces plans for the continuation of the Rodman Neeper Funeral Home to join in partnership with Clay Snyder and the Snyder family of funeral homes.

The Snyder family operates a number of funeral homes throughout north central Ohio, including the DeVore-Snyder Funeral Homes in Delaware and Sunbury.

In 1973 George Rodman was given the opportunity to explore his interest in funeral service, as a young man by doing odd jobs around the Bennett Brown Funeral Home in Delaware. After graduating in 1978 from the Kentucky College of Mortuary Science he was offered a partnership in the Bennett Brown Funeral Home, upon Glenn Bennett’s retirement in 1986. In 1993 he acquired the interests of James Brown. The former downtown location at 92 N. Sandusky St. had been serving the citizens of Delaware since 1906 when C.W. Morrison Funeral Home converted the Central House Hotel into a funeral home. In 1955 John Brown and Glenn Bennett bought the Claude Lee Funeral Home in Ashley and replaced that original structure with a new funeral home in 1964.

In 1993 Mike Neeper joined the funeral home staff. Mike became a vested partner with the business in 1997. Over the years; both George and Mike have poured their hearts and souls into providing funeral care and expertise to the Delaware community.

The Snyder family purchased the DeVore Funeral Homes of Delaware, Sunbury, and Marengo from Dick and Phyllis DeVore in 1993, the same year Clay Snyder moved to Delaware. Now in their fourth generation, Clay is a third generation family funeral director. Along with his wife Jacqui, Clay and their family have made Delaware their home since 1993. He and other members of his family continue their family tradition of serving families which began by their grandfather and great-grandfather, Ora Snyder in 1922. In fact Clay and Jacqui’s son Ridge Snyder has shown some interest in the family endeavor.

To further meet the needs of the Delaware community, George Rodman and his wife Lori made the difficult decision to move from the original historic location in downtown Delaware. They constructed a much larger funeral home at 1510 West William St. at the West edge of Delaware. The new 16,000 square foot funeral home was opened in 2006. It includes large spacious rooms, a dedicated children’s area, crematorium, and a community room. George adds “that all of the new facilities features have been very well received by the public, especially the large parking area and single floor plan.” Mike Neeper expressed that “the new community room has been well used not only by families for post funeral gatherings, but by the community in general for meetings and celebratory events”.

Some in the community may question the reason for a merger into the Snyder family of funeral homes. George explains that his children have chosen careers of their own and neither his son Ross, or his daughter Rachel wishes to follow in his footsteps. It was at that juncture he decided to step back from full time funeral service. He stated that over the past 35 years he has helped families get through the worst days of their lives….the loss of a loved one. “The time has come in my life to pass that delicate responsibility to a younger more energetic successor. This will also allow me to devote time to other interests , I have tried to help heal the hearts of the families that we have been called to serve, in stepping back and slowing down a bit, this will allow me to explore other interests, including the redevelopment of the former funeral home location on N. Sandusky St., destroyed by fire on September 11, 2010”, expressed George.

“This community should rest assured that Mike and Clay will continue to take good care of their funeral needs, under my watchful eye of course”, George added. “The dynamics of business have changed, which is the reason why so many businesses are merging.”

In striking this partnership, his colleague Mike Neeper will continue to serve as manager of the Delaware funeral home. For the most part, the Delaware community won’t see many changes. The staff and helpful faces will remain the same. Clay added that Mike has made a commitment to the people of Delaware and one he stands by. We are grateful that Mike will remain at the funeral home and that he and his family will continue to make Delaware their home, Clay added. Mike’s wife, Lora will also continue to design and create floral arrangements on site.

Clay Snyder added that through this partnership those families served will benefit from some new additional and unique services provided by the Snyder organization. One example is their extensive media department and the ability to make customized memorial folders, videos, and large personalized display portraits. Their Facet’s of Life program adds distinctive features to all life celebrations and funeral events. He also expressed that this association will also enhance their selection of granite custom designed memorials and monuments offered at the center.

Both organizations will become stronger in this alliance Snyder added. Through the sharing of costs, and staff associates, as well as an enhanced management system all families will be better served. This will be a catalyst to help control costs for those families served, a community benefit especially during these uncertain economic times.

With the increasing interest in advanced funeral planning, this alliance will also allow for a full time funeral pre-planning counselor. One dedicated to assisting families with pre-planning celebrations. As well as counseling those individuals who wish to plan their funerals before the need arises.

Snyder added it may become more economically feasible at some point to merge the 75 West William Street location into the newer Rodman facility, but no decision has been made to do so at this point. The Snyder family purchased the Delaware Armory property with the anticipation of adding additional parking at their current location, all before discussion of this partnership came about. Snyder is also pleased that through this partnership they will be able to provide the community room for post or pre-service gatherings for all the families they serve not only in Delaware but also in Sunbury.

In summation Snyder added….”We are most proud of this alliance and because of it we will be better prepared to answer the call. To aid in the celebration of lives well lived with funerals and services of all types. We stand ready to be a guiding light during life’s most difficult hour, as the Snyder family and their associates have done with integrity and compassion for the past four generations.”